Friday, June 24, 2016

Multiplication Practice Your Students Will Love!


I want to share my latest classroom tool. When I found dry erase tape, I instantly knew how I could use it in my classroom. For years, I have used t-charts, simple in/out tables, to help them skip count while solving multiplication and division problems.

Set-up: I cut two 10 inch strips of dry erase tape, and then placed them parallel to each other on each student desk. I left a gap about a half a centimeter wide between each strip of tape. I place a third piece of tape perpendicular to the other two, also with a small gap. Using a Sharpie, I drew a “T” in the gap between the pieces of tape.


Having dry erase t-charts available on the student desks, will make it easy and quick to use. These charts help students build multiplication fluency. I encourage my students to begin with a combination they know and skip count from there. For example, a student trying to solve 8x8 may begin with 8x5=40, and then skip count on the t-chart to 8x8.